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Cost of living

Stretching your budget? Share tips and advice to discuss budgeting and energy saving here. For the latest deals and discounts, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Austerity in October - *blows the budgeteering bugle*

480 replies

claretandamberforever · 01/10/2013 08:19

In here please.....

Pinch punch, first of the month.

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 19/10/2013 19:35

£5 on wine.

Sold something for £150.

AdoraBell · 20/10/2013 03:17

Happy birthday picnmix Thanks and Wine and Cake

North glad the suit still fíts and you don't have to fork out for a whole outfit.

Today I Spent about £20 on food and DH Spent £17 on chickens for the dogs.

Well done on your sale Fluffy, that should keep you in wine for a whileGrin

Fluffycloudland77 · 20/10/2013 19:16

I hope you've had a good birthday picnmix. I still get my eyebrows threaded, but if I look professional & more groomed you'd be happier to have me treating you wouldn't you?.

So,

£43 on weekly shop, didn't make a list and you can tell.
£3 new cleanser, bodyshop cream cleanser isn't working out for me so I'm trying the superdrug hot cloth cleanser everyone on style and Beauty reccomended.
£4 antihistamine syrup, I can't use tablet forms as they contain something I'm allergic to ironically.

£20 petrol. Might by a top on eBay if it doesn't go for silly money.

BlackberrySeason · 20/10/2013 19:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ilovepicnmix · 21/10/2013 09:08

Thanks for my birthday wishes. I had a great weekend but spent a lot! I did get my eyebrows done but got my best friend to wax my pits. She did a great job so I'm hoping it'll be a regular thing. Got thrush for the first time probably because of recent anti-biotics. That's an expensive affliction isn't it? £14 on caneston or whatever it's called. Then I cringe to say £100 on meal out, booze and taxis. Oh well im only 29 once (using the divide by 2 then add 12 rule) Yesterday was tea and cake at Valeries patisserie. I was underwhelmed I've got to say. Service was crap and cake too big, if such a thing is possible. I have a really sweet tooth but the cakes were too much.

Helenagrace · 21/10/2013 09:10

Ooh let me know about the super drug hot cloth cleanser Fluffy. I love the boots one but it's nearly £10Shock. I'm also using a cream cleanser and it's not nearly so good.

Managed to save £40 on last week's shop by using up cupboard stuff. Half term next week so will do a double shop this week - payday for me on Friday Grin.

roguepixie · 21/10/2013 11:27

£2.50 spent of Sunday paper yesterday.

NSD today.

Btw, hello to everyone. Hope you all had a great weekend and have a great week too.

Awks · 21/10/2013 12:15

The superdrug vit e hot cloth cleanser is half price at the moment at about £3. It's brilliant, I use all the range and its all discounted.

Fluffycloudland77 · 21/10/2013 13:00

If you get thrush again don't buy canesten, buy fluconazole. It's the same active ingredient for about £5. Wink

Fluffycloudland77 · 21/10/2013 13:05

Clotrizamole even. Angry

CremeEggThief · 21/10/2013 17:39

£47.52 on the weekly shop from Lidl and Tesco. Should only need milk between now and the weekend. BUT I could have been more frugal. £14.29 more frugal, to be precise! Wink

Thatsinteresting · 21/10/2013 19:26

Glad you had a good birthday picnmix but I agree with you cakes from there are over priced, too big and don't really taste of anything and the service is rubbish.

£4 on scan pictures. It was a really lovely clear scan. I could make out baby's fingers as s/he waved.

£5.38 on fruit from Aldi. £15 on new kitchen scales as I dropped mine this weekend. I could have used my really old ones but they're not very accurate. I'm not actually sure why I keep them.

£15 on dress up dress for dd. I need to have a think about how much I've spent on her.

Fluffycloudland77 · 21/10/2013 19:27

£2.80 on pipe wrap for the central heating pipes that are ridiculously close to the wall

£1 on a sandwich, really should have planned this better, 50p on a flapjack (it was vile) 50p on dh bread rolls.

Tm will be spendy, I'm buying a washing machine, if I don't get it I will kick myself but if I do get it I'm sailing close to the wind for two weeks.

eastmidlandsnightnanny · 21/10/2013 19:35

Hi all

night nannying last night so took my toddler for choc fudge cake at cafe always needed when tired and passed some time when tired

did big meat order last wk with westin gourmet offers n meat quality great customers service is shite really really shockingly poor so won't use again because of it.

Had heating on for an hr each eve since wed last wk.

Oh n suckered in to the multi pks chocs for Halloween i promise they r for my toddler

NK5BM3 · 21/10/2013 20:59

NSD. And then just realized at bath time tonight that I sent DS to school
to have school dinner, only to have forgotten to give him money for the meal. Doh Hmm.

Will have to give him money tomorrow. How embarrassing!!!

CremeEggThief · 21/10/2013 21:01

Just froze some mashed potato for the first time! I LOVE it as part of a roast dinner, but very rarely make it, as it's such a faff, along with everything else you have to get on with in the last few minutes. Hope it turns out okay, and I've redeemed myself slightly in the frugality stakes!

claretandamberforever · 22/10/2013 08:11

Morning all - I've never thought of freezing mash. My husband makes the best mashed potato, so light, fluffy and creamy, we eat it a lot. We're carb heavy in this house.

Sunday and Monday were NSD's for me. Still no £52 from Post Office Credit Card in my account yet. This is really starting to rile me now. I think I might send them a default notice with a £12 charge.

Posted the paper work off for the loan. They got it yesterday cos DH got a text to say they'd updated his new phone number. Hopefully they'll be happy with the information they sent us and release the money within the next couple of days. If they're not happy I wonder what more hoops they will make us jump through.

All day yesterday I was waiting for the phone call to say that I'd not got the job, but instead what I did get was a phone call to say I was being invited back to a second interview this Friday (completely unexpected). I'm bricking it as it's in front of five of the six partners (the nicest one is on holiday) and the manager. I didn't want to put myself through that ordeal if I wasn't what they were looking for with my lack of HR experience so I spoke to manager to say I was thinking of backing out but she said "don't you dare back out" and told me I'd done a good 1st interview and was in the top 4 who were being invited back for a second interview. She said I needed to work on some examples of difficult situations I have managed and to think of some questions to ask (I still can't ruddy think of any). She said I can take some prompt notes in with me to jog my memory as all of the questions are going to be "can you give me an example of a time..." or scenario questions.

I don't have a burning ambition to do the job but the extra money would be wonderful.

OP posts:
CremeEggThief · 22/10/2013 17:50

Best of luck, claret. Fingers crossed for you!

£20.98 on posting off some eBay sales and a birthday present for my mum. I need to post two more parcels tomorrow and pay my CM, but hopefully, that should be it.

Ohhelpohnoitsa · 22/10/2013 19:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ilovepicnmix · 22/10/2013 19:33

Thanks for the advice fluffy!

Well done claret!

I was away overnight last night collecting my son from a mini holiday with his dad in Wales. This has taken me totally over budget due to petrol and food (even though I sneaked a fish supper back to the hotel Blush I'm going to have to be seriously frugal till next payday but im up for the challenge.

NK5BM3 · 22/10/2013 20:03

Well done claret! I might need some help on that sort of thing soon. They are advertising the job that I'm doing soon for a higher grade. I hate this. Having to interview in front of my colleagues...! And worst thing is possibly having competition (internally and externally) argh!!

NSD.

roguepixie · 23/10/2013 07:00

Well done claret, and further good luck for the outcome. I'll keep everything crossed for you.

NSD on Monday. Yay.
NOT a NSD day yesterday - went on a crochet class so was near yarn ... not a good scenario.
Off to Bicester with a friend today so further damage will be done however, am limiting it to Christmas purchases so...not suitable, not being bought. That's the plan anyway ... wish me luck.

Fluffycloudland77 · 23/10/2013 07:07

If you go on Bicesters website you can usually get a 10% off voucher.

Helenagrace · 23/10/2013 07:49

Well done claret! It sounds like a competency based interview. If you google it there'll be loads of sample questions for you to try.

Regarding questions for you to ask how about:

What are your ambitions for the company?
How might this role evolve as a result?
How will the company / firm respond to ?

claretandamberforever · 23/10/2013 08:25

Thanks for the good luck wishes all.

Well I am probably at risk of outing myself but as I said somewhere else up thread, my football related name probably gives me away anyway. I currently work as a secretary in a doctor's surgery, and the role I am going for is office supervisor answerable to the Practice Manager (main focus is managing reception) with a staff of approximately 15 reception / admin staff. But in the interview there was a lot of emphasis on HR and managing sickness absence. When I asked my manager about it afterwards she said that although the interview had been HR heavy all she wanted was someone who would be able to resolve staffing queries / situations before they got to the stage where she had to be involved.

I've worked as a supervisor before in the public sector so I do have some competency examples from my PDR, and I also have reception experience and worked there for 10 years in total (with a 7 year break inbetween).

So yes, any words of wisdom would be appreciated. There is a thread I was reading written by a Head Teacher on here which I found really useful with tips about motivating staff.

Back to the money thing now...

Another NSD yesterday.

Finally got my £52 back from the credit card so my family spends total is £137 remaining. DS1 needs me to write him out two cheques for £12 for athletics so I need to do that tonight. MOT isn't due til 23rd November so I'm just going to off road it for one week.

Wonder if I will hear from the Natwest about the loan or not. They sent me back the supporting documents they asked for, which was very quick and the accompanying letter just said they would be in touch. Like I said, it's not particularly saving me any money monthly but it means in 5 years my credit cards will be paid off whereas at the moment I am just paying minimums

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